Inflation rises to 2.5%

ECONOMY  INFLATION

Data from the Uganda statistics Bureau (UBOS) shows that annual headline inflation has increased by 0.6 percentage points to 2.5% in October 2019 compared to 1.9% recorded in September 2019.

The data is contained in the consumer price index (CPI) report, the official measure of inflation.

Vincent Nsubuga UBOS Principal Statistician in charge of prices attributed the rise in prices of food crops to increase in prices of fruits that increased to minus 8.1% in October 2019 compared to minus 13.8% recorded in September 2019.

"Prices of food crops such as matooke, fresh fish, passion fruits, mangoes, cowpeas, peas, cassava sun-dried, maize grain, beans, groundnuts, sugar, chicken off layers, malewa (smoked bamboo shoot) has gone, up," Nsubuga said.

Furthermore, prices of meat, fish, charcoal, firewood, tobacco, and healthcare also rose up.

He was addressing the press at UBOS offices in Kampala on Thursday.

In addition, core inflation which excludes volatile items such as food crops and metered water increased to 2.6% in October 2019 compared to 2.5% recorded during the period under review.

Nsubuga said that core inflation rose due to increase in prices of annual goods inflation which increased to 3.4% from 3.3% recorded in September 2019.

Annual energy and fuel and utilities (EFU) inflation also increased to 5.1% in October 2019 compared to 2.5% previously recorded.

"This has more than doubled due to increase in prices of solid fuels such as charcoal and firewood," Nsubuga said.

He added that charcoal prices rose up to 17.2% in October 2019 from 9.9% during the period under review.

The rising prices, impact negatively on the cost of living and the cost of doing business.

On average, Inflation stands at 178.85% from 178.51%.